BENTON, Ark. (KATV) — Sunday is the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Benton Athletic Memorial Museum, which options a assortment of Benton sports memorabilia and history in a single place. This museum can also be named after the Benton Panther teaching legend, Tom Hardin.
“He was the head coach of the Benton Panthers from 1959 to 1965…And believe it or not, there were two coaches from Saline County who went to be the head coach at Fayetteville, and the first one was from Benton: Tom Hardin,” states Donny Burks, the manager director of the museum and a graduate of Benton High School’s class of 1967.
When the plans for the museum have been being developed in 1994, Burks labored underneath Hardin to develop this assortment, which incorporates way more than sports memorabilia.
“We have a complete history of ROTC, quiz bowl, band, choir, cheerleaders, pep steppers, administration,” says Burks.
“In this museum, we have housed everything going back to 1899 when Benton had its first high school graduation class,” he provides. That first graduating class solely had eight college students: 4 male and 4 feminine college students.
This museum homes extra than simply history from Benton High School. It contains collections from some of the local junior highs.
“So, we had really three junior highs: Benton Junior High Bulldogs, the Westside Junior High Bulldogs, and then the Eastside Junior High Bulldogs,” says Burks.
He additionally provides that the rivalry between Westside and Eastside Junior Highs was extra aggressive than the Salt Bowl between Bryant and Benton High Schools, one of the state’s most notable video games.
Burks says that this museum is the one one of its form in Arkansas, as not many different college museums characteristic history from a complete college district, which has caught the attention of different districts from across the state.
“One of the largest school districts we’ve had to come in and look at this building… were from Fort Smith Northside, and they wanted to build one like this on their campus.”
He provides that Cabot High School and Arkansas High School in Texarkana have additionally inquired about how Benton has acquired funds for this museum.
The Benton Athletic Memorial Museum means a lot to the group.
“This endeavor has been a real asset to the Benton School District,” Burks says.
He additionally says that yearly, the museum raises cash and offers out 5 scholarships to graduating Benton High School seniors, and he hopes that this can assist maintain the museum thriving for years to come back.